MANILA, Philippines - Starting tomorrow, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will have separate lanes for jeepneys, buses and motorcycles along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino said yesterday that starting at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow, some 140 MMDA personnel will man Commonwealth Avenue to make sure that drivers of jeepneys, buses and motorcycles only use their designated lanes along the 12.4-kilometer highway.
Tolentino said the high number of road accidents is the reason that prompted the MMDA to assign specific lanes for use by buses, jeepneys and motorcycles.
MMDA enforcers will also be armed with speed tracking guns to make sure motorists observe the 60-kilometer per hour speed limit along the highway. Violators will be fined P1,200.
Commonwealth Avenue, according to the MMDA, has a total of 18 lanes with nine lanes going from Fairview, Quezon City to the Quezon Memorial Circle, and nine lanes going the opposite direction.
Under the new lane designations, the yellow lanes (the rightmost lanes) are for buses. Motorcycles and jeepneys will share the second lane next to the bus lane, initially from Philcoa to Batasan and vice-versa. Five lanes are reserved for private vehicles with two lanes set as U-turn slots. - By Mike Frialde
